Chicken Ranch (Texas)

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This article is about the Chicken Ranch brothel in Texas. For the other one see Chicken Ranch (Nevada).

The Chicken Ranch operated as an illegal but tolerated brothel from 1905 until 1973 and was located in Fayette County, just outside the city limits of La Grange. It was established by Miss Jessie Williams.

The name of the brothel derives from the fact that during the Great Depression, chickens were accepted as payment for sexual services.

In the early 1950s, Edna Milton began managing the house, eventually buying it after Miss Jessie died in 1961. The prostitutes working at the Chicken Ranch underwent a criminal background check by the sheriff and weekly health checks by a doctor. They were not allowed to have outside social contacts with townspeople. The brothel bought supplies from local vendors on a rotating basis and was generally well-liked.

In July, 1973, Houston TV reporter Marvin Zindler forced the closure of the ranch after running a week-long special on it. The sheriff of Fayette County, Jim Flournoy, armed with a petition opposing the closure and carrying 3,000 signatures, tried to meet Governor of Texas Dolph Briscoe and revert the closure, but he was rebuffed.

The house was bought by two Houston lawyers; in 1977 part of the house and the original furniture was moved to Dallas, where it was opened as a restaurant. The restaurant closed in 1978.

The Texas Chicken Ranch is the basis for the 1978 Broadway musical and later movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, which in turn was parodied by The Simpsons episode "Bart After Dark"; it also inspired the ZZ Top song "La Grange".

[edit] Bibliography

Hutson, Jan. The Chicken Ranch: The True Story of the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. San Jose: Authors Choice Press, 1980, 2000. ISBN 0-595-12848-3
King, Larry L. The Whorehouse Papers. New York: Viking Press, 1982. ISBN 0-670-15919-0